A guide to AI in accounting and finance #1: Benefits and outputs
Artificial intelligence – or AI for short – is revolutionising the legal services sector. Front-office fee earners, and back-office administrators and managers are benefiting from AI-powered automation, generation, prompts, templates, research and analysis, amongst other uses and purposes – with tools continuing to advance at a rapid pace.
One of these departments undergoing transformation is the accounting and finance function. These teams are utilising AI for the collation, presentation, summarisation and distribution of key management information as well as trend analysis, credit control, VAT procedures, accounts reconciliation and more.
As such, AI functionality is replacing previously manual, time-heavy reporting and bookkeeping tasks. In any administration facility, which is not fee generating, time is of the essence. So, AI technology is doing the hard work and speeding up processes – in a major way.
At Jayva, we’re change experts who’ve implemented software into 3,000 law firms and trained 25,000 professionals since we launched in 2014. We’re dedicated to helping businesses and individuals navigate new technology easily and effectively. That’s why we’ve published this guide to everything you need to know about AI in accounting and finance in a two-part series, beginning with benefits and outputs, and progressing to prompts and challenges…
AI’s plentiful advantages for the bookkeeping division
AI is bringing about change nowhere more so than in the role of the legal cashier. Traditionally reliant on manual processes and time-consuming checks, AI technologies are delivering improvements to automation, efficiency, speed and accuracy across every aspect of financial management and reporting, thus adding greater strategic value to the law firm.
Here are some of the main benefits of AI in bookkeeping:
Time savings on manual finance tasks: AI automates routine cashiering duties like bank reconciliations, transaction postings and ledger updates – freeing up time for higher-priority tasks.
Increased efficiency in financial processes: AI streamlines finance workflows thereby reducing duplication and delays in payments, invoices and account management.
Greater productivity across the finance team: By handling high-volume, repetitive tasks, AI enables legal cashiers to manage larger workloads with fewer errors and lower stress.
Improved profitability through faster processing: Quicker and more accurate financial operations help reduce write-offs, improve billing cycles and ultimately boost profitability.
Smarter financial reporting and insights: AI tools give real-time financial data analysis so bookkeepers can share timely, accurate reports for better decision-making.
Stronger cash flow via AI-driven credit control: AI can flag overdue accounts, automate reminders and prioritise collections for healthier cash flow overall.
Up-to-date financials at your fingertips: AI ensures financial data is always current, with live updates across ledgers, bank accounts and WIP, all of which is crucial for reporting and compliance.
Assured regulatory compliance: AI supports compliance with SRA Accounts Rules and other regulations by tracking client money, automating breach alerts and maintaining audit trails.
Less mistakes and reduced risk: AI reduces oversights in postings, invoicing, reconciliations and calculations to enhance accuracy and decreased regulatory jeopardy.
Augmented collaboration with fee earners, suppliers, clients and other stakeholders: With AI improving access to financial data and documents, legal cashiers can more easily support stakeholders with insights, forecasts and performance updates.
Top tips for optimum AI outputs
To truly benefit from AI, it’s not just about using the tools – it’s about using them wisely. Just like any powerful technology, AI delivers its best results when guided with precision, context and clarity. Optimising your approach to interacting with AI significantly enhances its performance and helps you achieve smarter, reliable results.
Ask long form AI questions. Results will be comprehensive and complete if you use very specific requests. Talk to your AI engine in the same way you’d speak to a junior assistant using layman’s terms language. The section below showcases examples to demonstrate.
Undertake due diligence on answers as you can’t be 100% confident. The volume of legal cases against law firms using false citations in court documents is growing, otherwise known as ‘AI hallucinations’, both in the UK and abroad. The same issues apply to financial reporting. It’s dangerous to blindly reply upon AI-produced reports without checking data sources and results through robust controls, audit and oversight.
Even better, seek AI tools with built-in capabilities to verify results. Every AI system comes with the disclaimer that it’s generated by AI and hasn’t been verified by an actual person. There are kits, for instance LawY from LEAP Legal Software, which have the option to get a qualified individual to check results for accuracy.
Create a secure matter in your case management software as a report-storing hub. Simply lock down access to designated individuals. It makes your AI outputs easy to access while maintaining data privacy. This is a great alternative to systems such as OneDrive or SharePoint as it promotes single platform operating.
Give your AI tools sufficient time to ingest inputs before requesting outputs. Although, AI is extremely quick to learn so you won’t have long to wait. And note how the quality of these inputs directly shapes the quality of your outputs. The old adage ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’ applies here.
Remember practice makes perfect. As with anything in life, the best way to learn the new skill of AI querying is to do it. So, keep practising, rewording and refining until your prompts achieve maximum outputs. Through trial and error, you can become proficient in AI software and uncover its limitless possibilities.
AI is already empowering significant wins for finance professionals by interacting with these tools capably and responsibly. In the second part of this two-part blog series, we’ll dive into practical guidance on writing prompts and navigating common challenges, so you can make AI not just a time saver, but a trusted partner in your finance function. Stay tuned for ‘A guide to AI in accounting and finance #2: Prompts and challenges’ coming soon.